Generally ...

Most maps are kept in the Evans
Map Room. The map room has some type of coverage for every part of the
world. Finding a map in the online catalog is simple: just do a subject
search for the place you want. Once you see a list of the subject
headings for a place, look for the subject heading which ends with --Maps.That is how all maps in the online catalog are described. For instance, you want to see what maps we have for Paris, France. A subject search for just Paris France reveals 353 subject headings for 1,704 items. If you add --Maps to the original search, you get 6 headings with 28 items.

Once you click on a title, you
see the particular information about that title. The location, most of
the time, will be in Evans. The call number will begin, most of the
time, with a "G." The following is an abbreviated list of countries and
continents with their corresponding call numbers.

Country/Region

Call number range

World

G3200 - G3202

Polar regions

G3260 - G3272

North America

G3300 - G3302

Canada

G3400 - G3612

United States

G3700 - G4383

Mexico

G4410 - G4763

Europe

G5700 - G6966

Asia

G7400 - G8198.54

Africa

G8200 - G8904

Oceans

G9095 - G9794

Antarctica

G9800 - G9804

Each continent of the world has its
own call number range. Within each continent, each country has a call
number range. Countries like the United States, Canada, Great Britain,
Australia, Indonesia and several others have call number ranges for
their first administrative divisions. For the United States, the first
administrative division is the state. Individual states are better
known. Also, cities are more associated with their states than with the
country as a whole. For example, in the United States, you have Boston,
Massachusetts or Columbia, South Carolina. However, in most other
countries, cities are more associated with the whole country. For
example, you have Berlin, Germany; Harare, Zimbabwe or Paris, France.

Finding a subject maps

Above is how you can find many of
the maps in the online catalog. However, this technique won't help you
find everything in the collection. The best way to do that is a keyword
search limiting your terms to the subject headings. As another example,
you want to find all the maps listed in the online catalog for Paris.
You think there should be more maps than the 28 listed before. If you
do the following keyword search, "s:paris and s:maps," you retrieve a list of 32 items. The additional items do not use a straight forward subject heading like Paris France Maps, but they are still maps of Paris. These are subject maps.